As the number of Ebola cases in Uganda continues to rise, scientists from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have arrived from Atlanta to help contain the deadly virus.

The outbreak in the Bundibugyo District involves a newly identified strain of Ebola, an often-fatal virus that causes fever and bleeding. There is no treatment for Ebola, which kills 50 to 80 percent of people infected with it.

CDC (ENLARGE)

Clothing and other materials that come into contact with patient body fluids must be disinfected.

More photos from scene of outbreak in Uganda

Dr. Thomas Ksiazek, chief of CDC's Special Pathogens Branch, said this week that it's still very early in the outbreak investigation and accurate numbers are difficult to come by. "What's important is trying to get surveillance systems in place," he said.

The current outbreak involves 116 cases, including 30 deaths. Several health care workers are among those who have died.

CDC scientists have converted an avian influenza lab inside the Uganda Virus Research Institute in Entebbe to help run diagnostic tests to determine whether illnesses are actually being caused by the Ebola virus.

"One of the implications of an Ebola outbreak occurring is people become hesitant to handle samples or patients that might be Ebola patients," Ksiazek said. The CDC lab assistance will help to rule out Ebola in some cases, allowing those patients easier access to health care, he said.

Ebola isolation wards have been established in the remote areas of western Uganda, where the outbreak is occurring. One is in Bundibugyo and the other in the even more remote town of Kikyo.

"It's a challenging area logistically," said Ksiazek.

A group of CDC disease detectives has been in Bundibugyo since Dec. 5, working with Ugandan health officials, the World Health Organization and nonprofit medical relief organizations.

Back at CDC headquarters in Atlanta, scientists are working to crack the genetic makeup of the new strain of Ebola virus that's causing the outbreak. Ksiazek said too little is known yet to say whether this new strain is more or less deadly than others.

The Ebola virus, named after a river in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, was first recognized in 1976. The disease appears sporadically, infecting and killing humans, gorillas, monkeys and chimpanzees.